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Author Topic: There are now fewer steelhead trout in the Thompson River system than there are  (Read 7928 times)

CohoJake

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The way Sara language is worded when you list a species its illegal to engage in any activity that would harm the listed animal.

It's technically possible to catch a steelhead in the ocean but it is very rare but that does not matter as the possibility is their.

So yeah the SARA team recommended closing down the ocean basically for 60 days.
Or more likely they would be unable to withstand the politics of not shutting down the ocean fisheries if the FN fisheries are shut down in the river - we saw that this summer with the chinook closures.
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Floater

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very sad to read. as someone who's a passionate steelheader it saddens me that this strain might not make it. never had a chance to catch one but by all of the stories i hear from old timers of how large they were and how well they fought. such a loss.

i am sure im going to get some hate for this but at what point is it worth harvesting whats left for their genetics to maybe set up a hatchery program. kind of seems like a waste to let the genes disappear. from a few of the reports that i have read the scientist dont think their's enough left to have enough genetic diversity to survive. i have read alot that states that hatchery hurt wild fish but at this point their is going to be no wild fish left. i know their are a few people on this site that might be able to elaborate on why this wont work.
Great idea in theory, but in reality it will make no difference, no hatchery program has ever been documented to improve wild stocks. The very opposite has been found. You cant replace a wild run with an artificial run and have the same fish. You can pump out hatchery fish but they will no longer be the "Thompson steelhead" that everyone is so sad to see vanish. Hatcheries are becoming less and less effective as time goes on. Both wild and Hatchery fish are not returning in the numbers expected, this problem is only getting worse every year. The real crisis will happen when we hit a point where the hatchery contribution fish dont come back just like the wild components. With poor ocean survival, commercial harvest, FSN fisheries and sport fishing moralities, its just one big crap shoot. The best thing for all Salmonids is to leave them alone for the next 5 to 10 years and let them recover on their own. This is not a possibility in today`s world so we are seeing a great collapse of all the rivers and streams in BC.
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Hike_and_fish

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Great idea in theory, but in reality it will make no difference, no hatchery program has ever been documented to improve wild stocks. The very opposite has been found. You cant replace a wild run with an artificial run and have the same fish. You can pump out hatchery fish but they will no longer be the "Thompson steelhead" that everyone is so sad to see vanish. Hatcheries are becoming less and less effective as time goes on. Both wild and Hatchery fish are not returning in the numbers expected, this problem is only getting worse every year. The real crisis will happen when we hit a point where the hatchery contribution fish dont come back just like the wild components. With poor ocean survival, commercial harvest, FSN fisheries and sport fishing moralities, its just one big crap shoot. The best thing for all Salmonids is to leave them alone for the next 5 to 10 years and let them recover on their own. This is not a possibility in today`s world so we are seeing a great collapse of all the rivers and streams in BC.

With such a low population is it safe to say the gene pool wint be as diverse? Thus causing damage ?
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wildmanyeah

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I think genetic bottle necking is a concern. 
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